Aquino seeks harmony amid birth control furor

AFP, MANILA

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s government called for reconciliation yesterday after a “divisive” birth control act was signed into law despite bitter opposition from the influential Catholic Church.

Making sex education and contraceptives more widely available to the poor, the landmark legislation takes effect next month, Aquino’s spokeswoman Abigail Valte said.

“The passage into law of the Responsible Parenthood Act closes a highly divisive chapter of our history — a chapter borne of the convictions of those who argued for, or against this act,” Valte said in a statement.

“At the same time, it opens the possibility of cooperation and reconciliation ... engagement and dialogue characterized not by animosity, but by our collective desire to better the welfare of the Filipino people,” Valte said.

Both chambers of parliament passed the final version of the act on Dec. 19 after an acrimonious debate pitting non-governmental organizations and women’s groups against the country’s dominant church and its lay organizations.

Aquino, who was once threatened with excommunication by church leaders for pushing the bill, signed the act two days later and said it gives couples the tools and information needed to plan the size of their families.

Proponents say it will help moderate the nation’s rapid population growth, reduce poverty and bring down its high maternal mortality rate.

Church leaders in the Catholic-majority nation have vowed that the fight is not over.

Groups allied with the church are expected to challenge the law in the Supreme Court, while the church itself plans to ask its flock to oust the supporters of the birth control law in next year’s general election.

The Philippines has one of Asia’s highest birth rates, with the UN estimating that half of the country’s 3.4 million pregnancies each year are unplanned.